The Rock Blogger

A film review by Tyson Stewart
Antichrist (2009, dir. Lars von Trier)

If you’re sick of the now-too-familiar vérité-style horror cinema that has permeated theatres for the past ten years or so, perhaps von Trier’s art-house horror Antichrist will give you something to think about. While Paranormal Activity, a generally vapid remake of a film that is scarcely 10-years-old, resorts to a kind of trendy derivativeness, Antichrist reaches all the way back to films like Haxan (1922), The Seventh Seal (1957), and Mirror (1975) to mount its vision of evil.

A couple’s child accidentally dies while they’re having sex. To help Her (Charlotte Gainsbourg) mourn, He (Willem Dafoe) takes her to the place where she is the most afraid: a cottage in Eden, a forest outside of town. As He treats her with logic and reason, utilizing his skills as a psychologist, She starts tapping in to the mystery and chaos of the surroundings, of nature. Soon enough, we are given new (often very creepy) revelations and things eventually take a violent turn.

What I like about the film is its complex views of nature. For the most part, it treats it like a mirror that we project our own feelings onto. Nature is never the embodiment of evil—only mystery. This is illustrated by a key shot near the beginning, in the hospital room where She is being treated for grief. While the two characters exchange what amounts to sweet nothings, the hand-held camera suddenly locks itself into place and zooms in to some flower stems in a vase. Soon, the entire frame is filled with green, liquid, and long shafts of dark. Moments like this bring about more questions than they answer. And the film builds slowly like this, allowing new things to enter the mind without explicitly saying what they are.

Having two intellectuals (she has an unfinished thesis on the go) at the centre of this horror parable is, of course, no mistake. At the start, we think it’s going to go down the usual route: He, clinging to logic and reason all the time, will get his comeuppances through Her unreason. And this is indeed how most reviewers interpret the film. But notice the shift halfway. When he discovers the pages of her thesis in the attic, we might now be led to believe that she too employs her own brand of reason and logic onto him. She has just as much a powerful intellect as He. It may be subjective and a descendant of medieval practices, but it is reason nonetheless. This is what makes the film scary. Both protagonists appeal to a reason that is in direct contradiction to nature (recall what She does to her son’s feat).

Antichrist is a fitting way to end the last decade of cinema—it’s effectively a reminder and recap of the best art cinema from the past 50 years, pulling together elements from Bergman, Tarkovsky (to whom the film is dedicated), Lynch, and I would add Antonioni (think of those moments when the surroundings become overwhelming and push the characters aside, like her imaginings and the entry into the woods in the car). It might just be the best looking film I’ve seen in over a decade too. Certainly it has the best use of slow-motion in a film for years.

The drawbacks are the usual things of von Trier’s work. Why does he so stubbornly keep to gender roles? And some of the metaphors, when put explicit, are way too easy. I don’t buy how the beginning is dealt with again later on, for instance. But that might already be saying too much.

This piece captures the song perfectly, using extensive takes that invite you not to watch, but to explore.

Tenhi - Airut: Aamujen . 2006. 4.5 stars.

Somber, beautiful neofolk music driven by graceful piano lines and light percussion. Refining their distinct sound over the past decade, Tenhi remain one of the more melancholic and peaceful projects of its kind.

The deep, brooding vocals of Tyko Saarikko have always been a centerpiece of Tenhi’s work, providing the dark, emotional bedrock for the band the build upon. While Airut: Aamujen does not implement traditional folk instrumentation as on earlier albums, the subtlety of these piano melodies still conjure up the same fog-drenched mysteries of the Finnish wilderness.

While its icy surface doesn’t reveal the sheer density of their more complex works like Kauan or the intensely sorrowful Maaäet , there are still many moments on this album that are moving in their crisp sparseness. An evocative piece, listen as the snow starts to fall.

The music of the Red House Painters set to scenes from Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams. Whether Mark Kozelek’s music is under Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon or his own name, it always has a dramatic effect on me. This song can be found on Down Colorful Hill.

Some of the more atmospheric black metal records revolve around atavistic themes, a reversion to pagan ancestry, esoteric feelings, warrior culture, or a primordial connection with the environment and all its danger and mystery. Here are some recent selections:

Wodensthrone. Loss . 2009. The U.K.
A well produced piece of pagan metal with folk influences dedicated to the ancient wilderness of England.

Weakling. Dead as Dreams . 2000. U.S.A.

An obscure, one album band from San Francisco who ended up creating one of the more influential black metal works of the decade. The songs are incredibly long and epic, with sweeping movements and tortured vocals, evoking “the entire fucking battlefield”. Their expansive, winding sound would later influence bands like Wolves in the Throne Room and Krallice.

Forteresse. Métal noir Québécois . 2006. Quebec.

Traditional black metal from Quebec. Heavy on traditional themes and Quebecois nationalism, these songs are ominous and sorrowful, with lifting melodies guiding the fray. Brief folk interludes are thrown in between tracks for a strange ironic effect.

Moonsorrow. Verisäkeet . 2005. Finland.

I don’t know if you would call this folk or black metal, but its certainly beautiful and perhaps the most diverse and melodic album on this list. Moonsorrow take their time in crafting epic songs that move through acoustic passages, ambient and keyboard driven passages before launching into full on metal assaults. Their albums are rich with detail and feeling.

Walknut. Graveforests and Their Shadows . 2007. Ukraine.

A bloody intense album with dense riffs and incessant blast beats. The musicianship and atmosphere are equally strong, capturing the vastness of the Ukrainian wilderness in a similar way to Drudkh. A haunting album that’s perfect for winter.

Satyricon. Dark Medieval Times . 1993. Norway.

A classic that needs little introduction. Satyricon were one of the earlier bands to introduce “Medieval” themes into their brand of black metal, with lush acoustic guitar work interwoven with raw, lo-fi aggression. Full of striking contrasts.

Winterfylleth. The Ghost of Heritage . 2008. The U.K.

Another newcomer on the English scene, Winterfylleth draw on ancient history in creating expansive black metal songs. Chanting and stellar percussion make this album stand out.

Enslaved. Frost . 1994. Norway.

Another classic of the Norwegian scene, Enslaved were Viking metal pioneers that mixed keyboards, traditional instruments and Scandinavian mythology to craft a truly inspired (and cold) album.

Trist. Hin-Fort . 2007. Germany.

Perhaps the most experimental album on this list, Trist blends dark ambient sounds into its repetitive and hypnotic black metal textures. The first track is an hour long, drawing you into a deep, esoteric trance. An ambitious work that rewards patience.

The Ruins of Beverast. Foulest Semen of a Sheltered Elite . 2009. Germany.

One of the best albums I’ve heard this year. A diverse and textured album, with both frenetic and drawn out passages that move from black metal to doom and back again. Deep, bellowing vocals and a grimey, sea-faring atmosphere make for some interesting nightmares.

Krallice. Dimensional Bleedthrough . 2009. 4 stars.

When I saw Krallice open for Wolves in the Throne Room earlier this year, my friend (a stranger to black metal) said that they created "emotional texture". This, to me, was entirely accurate and sums up Krallice’s latest epic, an exhaustive, unrepentant and complex textural experiment.

Its easy to see how divisive such an album can be, especially considering the involvement of avant-garde guitarist Mick Barr (of Ocrilim, Orthrelm fame). As always, his shredding is dense, intricate and highly technical, concerned more with enveloping the listener than maintaining any pleasant melodies. Those with such an acquired taste will be in rapture - the wall of sound created is simply immense.

While other American black metal bands emulate the climatic, forest-inspired atmosphere found across Europe, Krallice’s efforts are more influenced by the chaotic mathematics of New York City, with frantic, kinetic patterns and grimy detail. The vocals are harsh and menacing but used sparingly as emotional punctuations in the concrete jungle.

Though this is a technical album, it is not entirely "soulless", as fluid percussive work and the complicated layering of guitar parts sets the stage for immersion. Like a rabid animal set loose on the city street, Krallice doesn’t let up or slow down, it just keeps tearing up its surroundings tooth and nail, riff after brutal riff.

Certainly, some of these runs (like "The Mountain" and "Aridity" for instance) go on for far too long, leading inspired and fiery moments into a sea of tedium. Despite it not being as focused as last year’s self-titled debut, Dimensional Bleedthrough is still an impressive attempt at pushing black metal to its formal limits, even though its thematics get lost in the choas. Even though its flaws are obvious, I still can’t help but get drawn into the "emotional texture" of this album, even if some of its scenes are oppressively bleak.

Converge. Axe to Fall. 2009. 4 stars .

Boston’s Converge has been a mainstay on the hardcore scene for well over a decade, blending mathematically precise riffs with the guttural emotion of extreme metal. Their unique sound is fast, gritty and immolating while still taking measures towards experimentation, be it with post-rock atmosphere or abrasive noise.

Axe to Fall follows the bloody trails of 2006’s No Heroes with short, pummeling tracks that coil tightly around frenetic mathcore guitar work and inhuman percussion. Longer tracks like "Worms Will Feed" and "Wretched World" are chugging, menacing slabs of noise, opening up chasms like the drone-doom metal of Harvey Milk.

With the jarring transitions and time-signature changes, Axe to Fall can be an exhausting listen. It’s a brutal and epic marathon that’s both insanely technical and aggressive. As a showcase for instrumentation, Axe to Fall is monolithic, a high watermark for bands following the hardcore genre (or it’s many hybrids). As a full, artistic work though, it may be apocalyptic but it is not quite the tour de force that 2003’s Jane Doe was. The band seems far more content ripping your eardrums to shreds than diving into the complex emotional wastelands that made that album so compelling.

Overall, this is a highly satisfying effort that is consistently intense and even awe-inspiring in places. While it’s principle aims may be annihilating any sense of hope or self-satisfaction you have, its rawness is nothing short of inspiring.